There has been extensive work in the field of interactive, first-person three-dimensional immersive environments in which users are able to walk through a virtual space. The last quarter-century of first-person shooter video games are evidence of and otherwise exemplary of the same.
Complementing and expanding upon this work are various tools for visualizing three-dimensional models of terrain. For example, aerial modeling tools allow users to virtually explore urban areas in three dimensions from an aerial point of view. Panoramic modeling tools such as Google Street View allow users to view multiple 360-degree panoramas of an environment and to navigate between these multiple panoramas with a visually blended interpolation. A more generally applicable variety of three-dimensional modeling tools allow users to view three-dimensional models in an object-centric manner whereby a user may zoom in and out on the model and rotate the same around a desired central point.
It is also becoming more feasible to automatically capture real-world spaces in three dimensions. These captured spaces may then be converted into three-dimensional models. Exemplary tools for such capture include laser scanners, stereo cameras, coordinate measuring technologies, and various other three-dimensional capture devices. With these developments, there is a consequential need to develop and improve techniques for viewing and navigating these three-dimensional models on an array of computing devices.